Personal & Professional
by xXBalorBabeXx
Summary: Things were always crazy in one way or another... but when an NXT taping gets a bit too personal, will anything be the same?
1. Crossed And Ticked Off

_**4/22/15, NXT Taping, ten minutes earlier…**_

" _Bravo, Finn. Everybody loves Finn Balor, everybody's so impressed with Finn Balor! Well you know who isn't? Me, Tyler Breeze!" Tyler said after appearing on the titantron. "You walk in here and let me assure you, you're nothing more than a flavor of the month… well, in more ways than one, just ask your Demon Mistress. It's time you meet someone who's been dominating NXT since day one. Prince Pretty… see you around, Finn."_

 _The titantron returned to the NXT logo and Finn turned to his right, seeing that Amanda wasn't having much luck keeping her anger controlled, judging from her clenched right fist._

" _Prince Pretty, crashing the party. Tyler Breeze obviously not as impressed with Finn Balor as we are." Tom Phillips said._

 _The backstage area was tense when they reached it and Finn got Amanda to sit down, rubbing his hands along her shoulders and upper arms._

" _Read that part of the script multiple times over… what the fuck is with him, taking cheap insults like that?!" Amanda growled, attempting to stand up but Finn stopped her. "He's either really into his character or he is a narcissistic son of a bitch!" She said as his thumb rubbed back and forth on her right wrist._

" _And you need to calm down before going and finding him… that wasn't right what he did but beating someone senseless backstage won't help." Finn responded, Amanda closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before opening them._

" _Just when I thought this wasn't starting to feel like high school again…" Amanda said quietly before both stood up…_

 **Present time…**

The door to the male wrestlers locker room opened and Kevin Owens walked into the hallway… before seeing Amanda.

"Is that John Morrison ripoff in there?" Amanda asked, Kevin stopping her as she attempted to walk in. "Hands off me, Kevin." She said but he wouldn't let go of the tiny brunette.

"You need to think straight, kid." Kevin responded.

"There are days I don't know how Sami puts up with you, he doesn't go stopping you when you want answers from someone." Amanda said.

"Mandy…" Kevin started to say.

"I'm not gonna slap him unless he provokes me. That clear enough?" Amanda explained, Kevin letting go and Amanda walking in.

It wasn't long before she found the 6ft tall blonde haired man… and he saw her and stood up.

"What the hell was that out there? There's not been one problem between us in the five years we've known each other… we're not friends but as co-workers, we need to remain professional on screen." Amanda said, Tyler letting out a humorless chuckle… until she grabbed him by the collar of his fuzzy vest.

"This ain't funny, Tiny!" Tyler responded.

"Don't call me Tiny! Now start talking! You got some kind of problem with me, Finn or the storyline, man up and tell me what the hell it is! Or are you too spineless to do so?" Amanda replied, Tyler prying her hands off the vest and turning angry at her.

"Ever since you met him, you just… you're not the same person. Either you're too open or he's too luring, either way I can't stand it!" Tyler responded.

"Well people connect like that, you and Audrey did and I never had a problem with it. I calmed down, how is that a problem?" Amanda said.

"Calming down isn't this, you're completely different! It's like the Mandy I met was cast aside and you stomped into her place!" Tyler replied.

"Oh, that Mandy wasn't healed! I was a mess back then, remember that?!" Amanda responded, Sami opening the locker room door and seeing Finn.

"Oh damn, how angry is she getting?" Finn asked.

"You haven't even try to patch things with Rollins!" Tyler yelled.

"How the hell was I supposed to know he was gonna try to end my career?! Or that he didn't want me rebuilding it after he tossed me aside?!" Amanda shouted, Finn and Sami running in and Finn pulling Amanda away from Tyler.

"You have no right throwing that back in her face. What was she supposed to do, stay locked in who she was after he slammed the chair into her leg?!" Finn said angrily, Tyler turning his anger to Finn.

"Take it as business and move the hell on! Her and Seth!" Tyler responded.

"Lance was right, you are a self entitled son of a-" Amanda said, Finn catching Tyler's fist and pinning him against the lockers with his forearm against Tyler's throat.

"Don't ever put your hands on her! Got that?!" Finn growled before backing away and guiding Amanda out of there. "Lance Storm had trained him?"

"Back in 2006… I caught up with Lance in 2010 and that's how I first met Tyler." Amanda responded.

"Two people near the same age, completely different mindsets." Finn said.

"I grew up pretty fast, I was just 14 when I started learning how to wrestle… finished school online so I could pick up on things, get used to the life on the road." Amanda replied as Finn rested a hand on her back.

"You just knew that this was where you were meant to be." Finn said.

"Yeah… not everyone knows that in their younger years." Amanda responded as they headed to their locker room and grabbed their things.

A torrential storm had blown in by the time they had reached the car, making the late April weather feel like mid January chill.

"Damn, this is insane!" Amanda said once both were in the car and Finn turned the heater on… and both, for a few seconds, saw lights flash across the darkened sky. "That was too big to be a police helicopter…"

"And this storm's too violent to follow it, whatever it is." Finn responded as he drove carefully.

"Think whoever's in that thing will be okay?" Amanda asked.

"Something that big… I'd say it'd have to be a sea rescue one, the ones with twin rotors and winches at the doors for stretchers. Might be a ship stranded out there on the water." Finn replied.

"Wouldn't doubt it, lot of boats out on the water in Florida all year around." Amanda said as the drive back home continued.

But her sixth sense was going off…


	2. Storms Like These

They were soundly sleeping when the power went out… and no matter how many times it had happened and how many stormy nights it had happened in, it would always startle Amanda.

She sat up after readjusting the Balor Club shirt she was wearing, checking her phone and seeing that it was almost five in the morning… it was seconds after she was fully awake that she felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Finn.

"Hell of a storm, huh?" Amanda responded, trying to stay calm.

"It is… haven't been caught up in one of these in a long time." Finn answered.

"Same here… last one worse than this that I was caught in was the storm of the century back in 1993… doesn't mean I didn't panic while trying to check on my family during Superstorm Sandy." Amanda said once she had activated the flashlight app on her phone and Finn pulled the covers closer to themselves. "If that was a sea rescue chopper, I hope they're holding up alright out there." She said as Finn rubbed his hand up and down her back.

"I'm sure they will be. Those guys there are strapped to the teeth for these times." Finn replied, glancing out of the dark window.

Amanda leaned against him, stretching her legs out a bit.

"The candles and lighter, they're still where we left them, right?" Amanda questioned.

"Should be…" Finn answered as they stood up, Amanda grabbing her phone as they headed down the darkened hallway of the apartment and found what they needed… but after Finn headed back into the room, Amanda pointed the flashlight in the darkened area downstairs, screaming in fright when she saw someone with blood on them.

Finn ran to her and pulled her behind him, a baseball bat gripped in one hand… only to lower it when Sami raised his arms up.

"Damn it, Sami, what happened?!" Finn responded.

"Easy, it's not mine!" Sami said as he headed upstairs.

"Then whose is it?!" Amanda asked.

"Someone I tried to help… only for him to freak out and punch me in the face, then run off in this damn storm and screaming for someone named Juno." Sami answered.

"Could be his wife or daughter stranded out there." Amanda said as Sami dried himself off.

"Could be… either way, someone he cares about." Sami replied, dropping the towel to a table after drying his hair roughly for a few moments.

Amanda deactivated her flashlight once some more candles were lit, seeing the broken windows across the street.

"This ain't like storms before it…" Sami said.

"It… still freaks me out, especially after how quiet last hurricane season was…" Amanda responded before seeing a bright blue light across the street wedged in an oak tree. "What the hell?" She muttered, Finn and Sami seeing it as well.

"That looks like a laser sword…" Finn said, Sami looking closer.

"Did he tell you what his name was, Sami?" Amanda asked.

"I'm not sure about his name exactly, but… he asked if this Juno had been seen looking for someone called Starkiller, if that might be him." Sami answered.

"That sword could belong to her, she might not have gotten too far from here." Amanda said as the storm started to weaken enough… checking his signal, Sami saw that it was strong enough and answered Bayley's call.

"Sami, you okay wherever you are?" Bayley asked.

"Yeah. Hey, did you find anyone named Juno?" Sami responded.

"You know… I did find a woman. Blonde hair, light brown jacket… very frantic and worried." Bayley answered.

"Someone named Starkiller is looking for her." Sami said, Bayley putting the phone in Juno's hand.

"Starkiller… did you find him?" Juno asked, her voice either English or very neutral accented American.

"Yes but he freaked out, hit me and took off." Sami answered as Amanda headed upstairs… and was knocked down to the floor, hazel eyes wide with terror as a hand clamped over her mouth and Starkiller putting his finger to his mouth in a 'shh' motion.

"You're not Juno…" Starkiller said quietly once he realised that Amanda's hair wasn't blonde.

"My friend Bayley found her." Amanda said though it was muffled, Starkiller jumping back as he saw the aluminum bat being swung at him before Finn pulled Amanda up and kept his arm around her.

"Easy, I wasn't looking to hurt her." Starkiller said.

"Could've fooled me when I heard that crash!" Finn responded.

"If I was going to harm anyone…" Starkiller said before taking a long device into each of his hands. From the left one shot out a glowing blue blade and from the right, a pulsating orange one.

"Put them down!" Amanda said, Starkiller deactivating them.

"Just an example…" Starkiller replied, clipping the two lightsabers back to his belt, one above each of his hips. "Why the candles?"

"Power went out a few minutes ago." Amanda answered as her phone rang and she saw who it was. "Shove it, Prince Pretty." She muttered as she let it go to voicemail, Starkiller snickering slightly.

"Ex boyfriend?" Starkiller asked.

"Co-worker I got into a fight with earlier. Wasn't the first time, won't be the last." Amanda responded.

"It never is…" Starkiller replied, glancing down at his hands where the tips of his fingers were still burnt from his final encounter with the Sith lord who trained him and then kidnapped Juno.

When the storm had let up enough, Bayley and Juno reached the apartment.

"I really hope he didn't hurt anyone in here." Juno said quietly.

"Has he attacked anyone before?" Bayley asked.

"Starkiller was… taken as a boy and raised to be nothing short of a killing machine, an assassin. When he cares about someone, he's… ruthlessly protective." Juno answered.

The two headed into the apartment and Juno and Starkiller hugged.

"You had me scared to death!" Starkiller said as they let go, Juno turning and seeing Amanda, who had yoga pants on under the shirt.

"Everything okay here?" Juno asked.

"Yeah, just a bit of mistaken identity at first." Amanda answered as Finn, now dressed, walked downstairs and handed some extra clothes to Sami, who headed upstairs.

"Well you're very similarly shaped from a distance…" Starkiller replied, glancing between the two.

Amanda nodded, her and Juno around the same height and build. She slipped her raincoat and rain boots on and checked the brakers, switching them off and then on after a few minutes.

"How's it in there?!" Amanda asked as the power flipped back on.

"It's back on, lass, now get back in here before you get struck by lightning!" Finn responded, Amanda heading back into the apartment and leaving the coat and boots in the garage.

"I can give them a buzz if they stop again, trust me." Starkiller said after Amanda returned to the room.

Amanda nodded and checked the weather report, seeing that the storm was weakening… but then she saw a text from Hunter.

' _How you two holding up?'_

' _Power's back on… but there's a lot that should be explained in person.'_ Amanda replied.

Juno picked up a promotional photo from NXT TakeOver Rival and then glanced at Finn and Amanda and then back to them in the photo, seeing the paint clearly.

' _Hmm… where exactly have we ended up?'_ Juno thought.


	3. Misconstrued

**The next morning…**

"Alright, just calm down! Are you sure it was Mandy who did this?" Emma said after a bruised and bleeding Tyler showed up in the women's locker room at the Performance Centre.

"Yes, who else do you know has a light brown jacket?!" Tyler responded, Emma helping him sit down. "She kicked me down, then just started hitting me!"

Emma helped patch him up and then headed to the main room of the Performance Centre, seeing Amanda and Finn in the ring as Juno and Starkiller looked around.

"I keep trying, it just keeps locking up. I don't know, maybe I'm just not ready to try to use it again." Amanda said as she stretched out on her back and Finn helped her stretch out her right leg and lightly massaged it.

"It might just take more time to… oh, hey, Emma." Finn said after he saw Emma near the ring.

"Why the weird look, Em? Something happen?" Amanda asked.

"Well Tyler Breeze is claiming you attacked him late last night." Emma answered.

"Well sounds like whoever did attack him gave him a bad concussion but it wasn't me." Amanda responded, briefly closing her eyes and letting a small sigh of contentment escape her mouth after feeling the muscles in the back of her upper leg unknot. "Thanks for that…" She said as Finn helped her up.

"He said he recognised you for the jacket, the light brown leather one." Emma said, as Finn carefully let Amanda go and she balanced back on her feet.

"I haven't worn it since February. And…" Amanda responded before Emma saw Juno.

"I have a brown jacket… I ran into him while looking for Starkiller and he tried to stop me looking, started to tug me towards indoors." Juno said.

"That was a hellish storm last night… and you're both similar, can easily be mistaken for one another in the dark." Emma replied, realising it and finding Tyler. "Mistaken identity, there's a blonde haired woman who has a leather jacket like that."

"You sure about that?" Tyler asked before both saw Juno.

"Yep. And if I may say so myself, you really are damn aggressive even in trying to protect someone from a storm… or from what I sensed from the tension Mandy's still feeling, aggressive towards her because she bonded with someone new to the company." Juno responded.

"He's not the only one, half the NXT roster and some of the main roster aren't too happy either." Emma said.

"I really see no problem with those two." Juno responded, Tyler narrowing his eyes at her. "Hey, there's a lot worse out there. Look at me and Starkiller… he was raised to be an assassin, then supposedly killed and his body cloned into the living man we have now, and I was supposed to be the pilot of his ship, both of us under a strict rule of no relations… you seriously think that that's not worse than an on-screen partnership turning real?"

Juno left after that and glanced at the ring, seeing Amanda on the mat again as Finn was tickling her.

"Quit screwing around, Balor, we need to get serious." Amanda said through her laughter.

Juno walked over to Starkiller, seeing him trying not to laugh.

"She jumped onto his back, tried to put him in a headlock… and it resulted in them playing around." Starkiller said.

"Playful two…" Juno said, looking up at Starkiller and he looked down at her… and sensed what the look she had meant.

"No, no, not me, please!" Starkiller said with laughter as Juno started gripping his shoulders and trying to jump up on his back.

Amanda sat up after Finn sat down next to her, both laughing.

"Yep, our antics rubbed off on them." Amanda said.

"By the sounds of it, they've not really had much time in the past to just… enjoy themselves." Finn replied, having heard what Juno had said to Tyler.

"We all need time to enjoy ourselves… never really know how much we have." Amanda said as they stood up. "Are you sure about tonight's match? You know he's scripted to try to attack you afterwards."

"He was…" Finn answered, a mischievous smirk following.

"Damn, now my habits are rubbing off on you." Amanda whispered as the two hugged.

 _ **Full Sail University…**_

"Yeah, come in." Hunter said, Tyler opening the door and setting the script down.

"What is the meaning of this?! Last night, it was printed that I was to ambush him, not have his little ring rat attack me!" Tyler responded, Hunter standing up.

"First off, Mandy is not a ring rat! And second, I know how you acted last night and we have limits about what can be brought up on Tv, rumor or truth." Hunter answered. "Anything else?"

"Yeah… are they trying to beef things up backstage? Having someone come in pretending to have been cloned from a dead warrior or something like that, and his psycho girlfriend who attacked me when I tried to get her out of the storm." Tyler responded.

"People freak out in storms. And they're not security… and that ring rat insult? That was weak, Tyler. And I haven't heard it since I was 16." Both heard, turned and saw Amanda, already in her black lace and leather ring outfit and having thrown Finn's leather jacket on over it. "What now, not family friendly?" She asked sarcastically.

"Look, I already spoke to Juno and Starkiller and I'm gonna say this to you, Tyler, it's just for the cameras… but things do change." Hunter said, letting the two leave… but Tyler gripped Amanda's wrist once they were down the hallway and she yanked it away.

"Who I was in my younger years is also not fair game that can be brought up on Tv, the original script had you dragging up my past with Randy!" Amanda said angrily, Tyler yelling out when she grabbed him by his right ear. "Cross any more lines with me and you can forget about Juno or anyone else beating you to a pulp because I'll do it myself, are we clear?!" She growled, Tyler shoving her off and leaving… and Amanda heading to her and Finn's locker room. When she walked in, he could see the look in her eyes and walked over, resting his hands on her arms. "They looking around the arena?"

"Yeah, exploring the architecture… Juno said it seemed similar to a planet called Corellia, quite a cold planet but one of the biggest ship manufacturers in the galaxy." Finn answered.

"They might feel calmer here if there are a few things to remind them of home." Amanda said as they sat down. "I got a bit angry and grabbed Tyler by his ear." She admitted.

"He wants to act like an overgrown child, he can be treated like one… but his behavior's starting to remind you of Seth's, isn't it?" Finn responded, his right hand resting on Amanda's left one.

"In some ways…" Amanda answered.

"In more than one way, I presume…" Starkiller said as he stepped in. "Moments after talking to you, he's… his hand is going on a journey slowly pulling out the knots in some long blonde hair."

"Did Juno rip any of Tyler's hair out?" Amanda asked.

"Uhh…" Starkiller started to reply before they heard a crackling noise and Tyler yelling out in pain. "...she fired burning hot stun lasers at him."

"There goes tonight's script." Amanda responded.

"Not necessarily." Starkiller replied.

 _ **NXT Taping, Amanda Cena vs Alexa Bliss…**_

"Match has been insane from the get go, just like last week's main event." Tom Phillips said. "But if you don't mind me asking, why exactly are you out here?" He questioned to Tyler, who was managing to stay in his current storyline role.

"Everyone has some weak spot." Tyler said as Amanda locked in the Demonic Sharpshooter on Alexa.

Alexa tapped out and Amanda released the hold as the bell rang, Alexa being helped out of the ring and Murphy holding onto her as Finn and Amanda hugged and Finn spun her around and Tyler ran to the ring.

"Let's get this over with." Amanda muttered before she tackled Tyler outside the ring and turned him onto his front, locking the hold in… when he screamed and tapped, she arched her back before releasing the hold and standing up, the crowd going crazy.

"That's what happens when you piss someone half your size off!" Corey Graves responded, impressed… but Amanda touched her fingers to her forehead and saw blood after looking at them, Finn getting her to sit down.

"The edge of the steel stairs…" Amanda said quietly, Finn seeing drops of blood on them.

In the back, Juno looked away from the Tv, horrified.

"She'll be alright, war wounds happen." Starkiller said quietly, resting his hands on her shoulders.

"You've had enough of them… you died twice." Juno replied, referring to the first time where Vader had killed him before reviving him in secrecy from the Emperor, then the second when he sacrificed himself so Juno and the Rebellion leaders could escape the Death Star.

"They're lucky… compared to us, no one trying to murder them…" Starkiller responded as Finn had helped Amanda to the trainer's office.

"It's just a scratch… worse has happened in that ring before." Amanda said but she knew Finn wouldn't believe that, his arm secured around her back even as he got her to sit down and Juno and Starkiller found them.

"You alright?" Juno asked.

"Yeah… things like that happen at times." Amanda responded as Dr. Amann checked her over.

"She's just gonna need a few stitches… and a CT Scan just to be safe, not risking it again." Dr. Amann said, Juno turning curious.

"Not risking what again?" Juno asked.

"A little over a year ago, I… I had three seizures that nearly killed me." Amanda responded, Juno's and Starkiller's eyes widening in shock.

"Didn't… you say something like that happened before?" Juno questioned.

"Yes… while training me when I was young, Vader had a stroke… He was new to his suit still so he was still uneven about his limits." Starkiller answered.

"And it nearly killed him…" Amanda responded.

"Sometimes I wish that it had." Starkiller said before heading out of the room.

Amanda pursed her lips into a thin line for a few seconds as she was stitched up, Finn rubbing his hand up and down her back as Juno went to check on Starkiller.

"Crazy few nights it's been…" Amanda said quietly.

"Damn right it has." Finn responded, kissing her on the side of her head.


End file.
